There is an ongoing tension between the Church and the world. We should expect it. The Bible says we will struggle with powers and principalities. The world will attack us continually to try to bring us down to their level. Everywhere we walk, the dust of controversy will surround us.
Even in the Church, it can be hard to maintain our faith in Jesus. We compare ourselves to others, forgetting Paul’s instructions to let each person among us work out his or her salvation, and to not argue over details of theology.
The Church at Corinth struggled against a group called the Judaizers. These men couldn’t release the law’s hold on their faith. They had trouble accepting that the message of the cross was Christ, and that he came to fulfill the law. He brought a new level of understanding, one that says that we are to love one another as ourselves, and treat each other with compassion and respect.
Read of the Judaizers’ flawed beliefs in Galatians 6:12:
“As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.”
This verse comes in three parts:
“As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh…”
The Judaizers hadn’t moved past the law. They saw the outward display of religion as paramount to prove their inner belief in Christ as Lord. They were compelled to observe the visible and time-honored rituals of religion as opposed to living the new reality of Christ.
“…they constrain you to be circumcised…”
Merriam-Webster says that to constrain is to “force by imposed stricture,” which means to “do it or else.” That wasn’t Christ’s modus operandi. He preached love, compassion, and concern. He simply asked those who believed in him to go their way and “sin no more.”
“…lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.”
The Judaizers didn’t want to be “different.” They wanted to avoid persecution. They desired anonymity in the crowd. They endeavored for everyone to be the same. That wasn’t Christ’s way 2000 years ago, and it’s not Christ’s way today.
In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul proclaims:
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
We can find our faith in Christ by living in Christ, by studying his life as revealed in the Word of God, and by spending time in prayer, so that we give him time to speak his will unto us. When we live according to the example of Christ, we don’t need to worry about the “Judaizers” of this world. They’ll fade into the background, no more than a speck of dust to be brushed off our shoes.
Faith in Jesus comes from the heart, not from the outward things the world expects of us.
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Code: FGO.E.02.16d.vp.kjv